We had a full day today of clinic visits. No more bumps in the road. Only warning signs of what is to come, meaning the side effects of treatment. I have this vision in my head that what is about to happen is kind of like what you would see in a cartoon movie. Think of Wile E Coyote and the Road Runner where the Road Runner is slammed into by a giant asphalt rolling machine and is flattened to the ground. Then slowly in the next scenes is peeled up from his head until is upright and then reinflated like a balloon from bottom to top. I think that is what this process is going to be like.

What really struck me today was my visit to the radiation oncology suite. This visit was preparatory for the day before I receive the cell transplant. On that day “-1” I will receive 40-minutes of total body radiation to kill whatever cells are left in bone marrow.

The fascinating thing about the visit is that they had to measure me. The idea is that my abdomen and trunk, or torso is thicker in diameter than my neck. The want to blast me with enough radiation to get through my torso and lessen the dose where I am thinner. Makes sense.

The way they measured me is what was so impressive. I thought with all the technology around here they would place me in some kind of scanner and get a digital map of my dimensions. But no. They took out a big metal caliper as well as a tape measure and they determined how they would program the radiation in that way. Total old school. I guess when there is something that works you stick with it.

Tomorrow is the day we meet again with our attending physician and sign the consent to move ahead. The countdown will then begin the following day when I receive the IV port into my chest.

Hope you are well.

Larry and Sharon